Whether your idea of a celebrity is Goldie Hawn, the actress, or Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs, Davos is the place to find them. The event is a mash-up of business, celebrity and charity, which can throw up some strange combinations once the panel discussions and brainstorming are over.

Who’s who at the World Economic Forum

Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, tells of a dance floor encounter at Davos a couple of years ago when he was dancing to Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” and turned around to find the real Mick Jagger, of the Rolling Stones, dancing next to him.

The official theme of the event this year is “The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business”. It’s pretty general – now that the world is no longer on the brink of an economic meltdown there’s no obvious overarching theme for Davos man (and, to a much lesser extent, Davos woman) to focus on.

Disruption from technology, the challenges of global economic and population growth, and the problems of managing new types of change with old types of institutions are ever-present Davos themes, and this year is no exception.

The official agenda is important. But the event is part-founded on the idea that simply getting people to talk – especially if they’re from countries or sectors with little conventional dialogue – is of value.
Whether Hassan Rouhani, president of Iran, will meet Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu or president Shimon Peres is an interesting question. They’re just a selection of the government leaders attending, which this year is a particularly strong line-up.

At the other end of the VIP spectrum, Hawn is on a panel talking about the work of The Hawn Foundation, which helps children develop self-awareness and positive thinking. Meanwhile, actor Matt Damon is being honoured for his role with Water.org, a non-profit organisation that aims to improve water supplies and sanitation throughout the developing world. Rock singers Peter Gabriel and, probably, Bono will both be making return appearances, discussing development and culture respectively. A Google party will feature R&B legend Mary J Blige.

However, Hollywood A-list is far outranked by business A-list, particularly in banking. Bank chiefs, in particular, think it’s worthwhile making the flight and climbing halfway up a mountain to attend as they can meet as many clients in four days at Davos as they can meet in four months back home.

This year’s roster is as strong as ever, with not only Blankfein but Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America, Michael Corbat, Citigroup chief executive, Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan, and James Gorman, chairman and chief executive of Morgan Stanley on the list of participants.

Many of the big chief executives will be hosting public events. JP Morgan, for instance, is holding a reception in the Kirchner Museum Davos, which allows you to mingle with Dimon and other executives while looking at some of Switzerland’s best Expressionist paintings. Last year, the lavatories were scattered with rose petals – nice touch.

However, for most of the big chief executives the real action doesn’t happen at receptions, but at small private gatherings. The Steigenberger Grandhotel Belvédère is a classic venue for these, an upmarket location near the centre of town with good security. This year it expects to lubricate the World Economic Forum’s crowd with some 1,600 bottles of champagne and prosecco, and 3,100 bottles of wine, and fuel them with around 80kg of salmon.

At the other extreme are the raucous gatherings. Last year’s biggest such event was funded by Sean Parker, former president of Facebook, and Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff. Their multifloor disco featured a vast array of stuffed animal heads – with laser eyes – brought from Paris. Multiple Grammy Award-winner John Legend played the piano.

The World Economic Forum isn’t keen on giant parties and has generally had success in keeping events modest. Adrian Monck, managing director in charge of communications and media at the forum, said: “We ask people to respect the forum and the fact that we are coming to Davos to debate serious issues.”
Having said that, he pointed out that the people of Davos can rent their premises out to whoever they like – the forum doesn’t control the city.

Hosts have a couple of ways to ensure a good turnout to their event: one is to go for the VIP name. Hawn, for instance, is not only on the conference centre stage, she is appearing at an evening event on Thursday alongside Aetna’s chairman, chief executive and president, Mark Bertolini, and president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, Arianna Huffington.

The other option is to appeal to the tastebuds. Indian companies have typically offered spicy fare, for instance, and this year is no different, with IT company Infosys bringing in Michelin-starred Indian chef Sriram Aylur for its reception on Thursday night.

A Davos event doesn’t have to be a giant affair. Anthony Scaramucci, co-managing partner of investment firm SkyBridge Capital, this year is principal sponsor for the fourth year running of a wine-tasting that also raises money for charity, which costs him about $15,000 and allows him to mix with clients, associates and generally meet up with people. He reckons it’s good value for the company. Why does he do it? “It’s a fun event, there’s a charity component, and people like wine,” he said.